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It’s been quite some time since the public caught a glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis. Following his statement in 2017 that he would cease to work as an actor, just before the release of Phantom Thread, the actor withdrew from the spotlight. Yet, during his hiatus, his legend has only grown.

The Mythos Surrounding His Method

Largely, this reputation centers on his preferred approach to roles. As someone who famously disappears into his characters – for example, while filming Lincoln, reportedly asked Steven Spielberg address him as “Mr President” for the entire production – the world has grown increasingly obsessed with how he works. Is it true he actually sent messages to co-star Sally Field in character as Lincoln? Did he only eat animals he’d killed during Last of the Mohicans? Did he insist on receiving food via spoon while filming My Left Foot?

Madness in their method: have we lost interest with over-the-top performances?

Currently, Day-Lewis is back in the limelight, with some hesitation, promoting his latest movie Anemone. And he is using this to vocalise his anger regarding how method acting is viewed. “I’m a little cross these days when I hear various individuals gobbling off and saying things like ‘fully embraced the Method’, which I think suggests that someone is acting insane in a drastic way,” he stated to a major publication. “People often concentrate on superficial details of the work, and those details typically include some sort of self-punishment or a situation that causes a severe discomfort or psychological strain. However, in the career for a performer, it has to mainly focus on the inner transformation.”

An Industry Full of Followers

To be honest, it appears like the actor has emerged from his retreat only to discover aghast at the world that has developed in his image. When you are widely considered one of the greatest actors in history, and your approach involves striking a prop to the point of injury (for Gangs of New York) or spending two days in isolation deprived of sustenance (for In the Name of the Father), then it stands to reason that other actors will want to fill that vacuum by trying to mimic their idol.

In other words, we now live in a landscape full of imperfect imitators of Day-Lewis who want nothing more than to show the world the extensive degree of dedication they put into their roles. On the milder side of this trend we have people like Lady Gaga, who was so desperate to win an Oscar for House of Gucci that she spent the whole campaign attempting to persuade people that she became functionally Italian over 18 months as preparation.

Then we have Jared Leto, who chose to immerse himself in the character of the Joker (for Suicide Squad) through sending “horrifying” presents to his castmates. These items, according to various accounts, included deceased animals to anal beads and personal hygiene products, though the actor refuted those worst excesses. Then, naturally, there is Jim Carrey, who immersed himself so fully into Andy Kaufman during Man on the Moon that they succeeded in creating a full-length documentary from behind-the-scenes footage of him causing difficulties as impossible as he could for his colleagues.

The Modern Method Practitioners

The foremost Method Guy at the moment would appear to be Jeremy Strong (formerly Day-Lewis’s assistant), whose approach while filming Succession was so rigorously detailed that it became the basis of a critical New Yorker profile, full of quotes from individuals who were worried about his conduct (“The toll on himself concerns me,” remarked Brian Cox) or annoyed beyond all measure by his actions (“I remember him causing others roll their eyes,” stated an unnamed co-star).

The actor says he ‘did not plan to stop acting, really’

There are so many other examples. Andrew Garfield went celibate for six months while preparing for Silence. Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass for The Revenant. There’s a fighting chance that actor Austin Butler continues to talk in the style of Elvis, three years after the movie’s release. Each of these instances, to some extent, aims to evoke the dedication in which Day-Lewis approaches his work.

A Noble But Uphill Fight

And, although his rebuttal against method detractors could be commendable, a brief promotional cycle may prove insufficient to change anyone’s mind, not to mention their practices. Maybe if he wants to remind people what method acting is, or to demonstrate its potential results, then Day-Lewis’s best bet is to just begin producing more films. Surely everyone would get behind that.